Can Keeping a Journal in Rehab Really Lead to Better Counseling?

So you’ve started rehab, and your counselor has asked that you keep a journal—but why? What’s the point? Will it really help with the counseling itself?

Often times patients are asked to keep track of their recovery by journaling their efforts, their goals and their struggles alongside their achievements and their emotions. This is a transitional time period that will lead to lifelong change—and keeping a journal to reflect back on can be highly beneficial both for the patient and for the counselor that is working with the patient.

Featured Rehab Center

Orchid Recovery Center

How Journaling in Rehab can Help to Improve your Sessions with a Counselor

Someone who begins journaling during treatment often experiences better counseling sessions with their therapist for a number of reasons including:

The patient is more aware of their situation and can engage more easily with the counselor.

The patient has thought about their situation and, ideally, what they would like to say or address during counseling.

If the journal is shared with the counselor, the counselor can better understand what the patient is thinking as well as point to specific phrases in the patient’s own words when treating them.

The counselor can see the patient’s progress in another way, getting to view thoughts they may not be ready to say out loud.

Even if a person doesn’t write well, they can easily get their thoughts across this way, which can be very helpful to both the counselor and the patient.

What to Include

Keeping a journal in rehab can clue you in to your relapse triggers.

Your journal is up to you. You can include anything that you wish to include, but we recommend that you consider the following topics:

Goals

Updates on how you feel each day

Updates on any struggles you have (and what you have done to cope with them)

Updates on your counseling sessions and any “light bulb” moments

Achievements

Relapses

If you relapse, you may wonder why you would possibly want to talk about it and keep a note in your journal about it—but here’s the thing: If you journal actively, and discuss your goals and your struggles, and then you relapse, there’s a good chance that the answer to your relapse, the reasons behind the relapse and a proper coping mechanism for the relapse are all in the journal.

Furthermore, keeping track will help your counselor to help you get through the situation and move forward in recovery. To learn more about counseling in rehab, or for help finding the right rehab for you, call us today at 800-481-6320.

More Rehab Centers Resources

For those suffering from alcohol addiction, 12 step alcohol rehab centers can help to rebuild faith and trust in one’s self, heal the spirit and providing the right level of treatment and counseling to ensure a recovery from addiction. The 12-step program is one of the oldest forms of alcohol treatment, coined by Alcoholic’s Anonymous….

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is a chronic disease that goes untreated far too often. When people suffering from this disease decide to get help, they have a number of decisions to make, and consequences to consider. One of the best treatment options for addiction and substance abuse is rehab. However,….

Sometimes, going to a luxury rehab center can be a beneficial option, especially if you have the ability to do so. Those who are able to attend luxury rehab treatment often receive a number of advantages that, while not always necessary, can still be helpful to the person’s overall recovery. Accommodations and Environment The setting….

As one of the more dangerous forms of recreational alcohol use, those who engage in binge drinking do so for one primary reason: to get drunk, quickly. Technically speaking, binge drinking entails consuming five or more drinks in two hours for men, or four or more drinks for women in the same amount of time…..

The effectiveness of alcohol rehab programs is largely defined by the length of the program as well as the services that are offered as part of the alcohol treatment. While alcohol addiction is can be an overwhelming problem for both the addict and the loved one’s of those suffering from an addiction, there is help….

Alcohol addiction is one of the most, if not the most, difficult addictions for a person to overcome. Alcohol addiction requires treatment for most people. Fortunately, there are various types of alcohol rehab from which a person can choose. When a person develops an addiction to alcohol, which is the compulsive need to continually seek out….

About Drug Addiction and Christian Rehab Centers According to the National Institute on Drugs Abuse, there were approximately 24 million people twelve years of age or older that needed treatment for an illegal drug or alcohol abuse problem in 2009. However, only 2.6 million of these people who needed treatment actually got it. Drug addiction….

Drug and Alcohol Abuse among Teenagers Drug and alcohol abuse is a common activity for teenagers to engage in and unfortunately it leads to thousands of deaths every year. Many teenagers try drugs due to peer pressure or because they think it will be a fun and enlightened experience. However, even one instance of abusing….

What is a Christian Rehab Center and How Does it Help? Drug and alcohol addiction negatively impacts the lives of millions of Americans every year. Addiction is a life-long disease, that can be treated, but it is never fully cured. A person will struggle with their addiction periodically throughout their life even after receiving treatment,….

For those seeking treatment for addiction, they may find many obstacles that make it difficult to return to a sense of normalcy. In the work place, addiction can result in termination of employment. It can also be incredibly difficult to find employment while in recovery when employers learn of a potential candidate’s history of addiction…..